These Ticking Clocks
by AriMarvelUniverse
Summary: One shots of Silver, set before, during, and after Sonic '06. Chapter One: There's another reason Silver must reverse the catastrophe and stop the Iblis Trigger, and he's running out of time. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

For the inhabitants of the desolate future wasteland known as Mobius, many things were hard to come by, including simple things like food and shelter. Perhaps the hardest of these things to attain was a single good nights sleep. With poverty, sickness, and despair lining the streets of their tiny city, and fiery death and destruction waiting like a ravenous predator on the edges of society, having a real, restful, good night of unbroken sleep was like finding a diamond in the sewage runoff.

And no one knew that better than Silver the Hedgehog. He was no stranger to long periods of sleepless nights. Rest was a luxury he was seldom allowed to taste. Day in and day out, he was constantly on his feet, doing what little he could to help the citizens of their rapidly shrinking city survive another day. Not an easy task, considering they were trapped next to the ever growing Iblis Spirit.

Iblis was the tiger that stalked them, circled them, devoured more and more of their city every day. It was a demonic incarnation of the fiery Sun God Solaris. Years and years ago, before Silver was even born, some great catastrophe triggered the deity into a destructive rage. Millions were killed in the fiery backlash, and Mobius had never recovered. But Iblis was not satisfied, and had continued to ravage them ever since, hell bent on eliminating them all.

It was impossible to escape, and it was insatiable. They had tried everything- sacrifices, priests, rituals, and all out attacks. Nothing worked. The edges of the city burned away every minute.

It was a safe bet that the only thing that stood between Iblis and the certain death of the remaining Mobians was Silver. For some strange, unknown reason, the young hedgehog had been gifted with Psychokinetic abilities. It was his curse. Early on, he had been tasked to protect the city endlessly, battling with Iblis in near death matches in desperate attempts to shield Mobius from a blazing end.

He'd never had a choice, or even a break. But there were other things he did have, and one in particular that he was in danger of losing.

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

Night found Silver fast asleep for once, passed out over the arm of a lumpy chair in the small, abandoned apartment where he lived. Over the years, he'd developed something akin to insomnia, but after two weeks of not sleeping ending with another battle with Iblis, his body had forced itself to shut down.

He was the picture of exhaustion. His quills were matted, singed, and unruly. Large, weeping burns covered his platinum colored coat. His amber eyes were shut, and the bags under them were visible. His limbs were splayed over the chair like he didn't have the strength to arrange them after he collapsed. His muzzle rested in a huge puddle of drool, and he snored.

Dreams and visions of things to come danced in his brain. For a while, the only sound was his breathing, and then-

"S-Silvie?"

Silver twitched in his sleep, shifted, but didn't wake up, and the little whisper sounded again. "Silvie?" The door started to creak open on its one hinge, and dim light from the hallway spilled into the room. Silver flinched when it hit his face, and his eyes slowly opened. "Shale?"

The little hedgehog girl named Shale scratched at her curly ebony quills. "Silvie... Citrine threw up again..." she squeaked. Silver sighed and pushed himself out of his chair, grabbing her hand and following her into the hallway. "Come on...I'll take care of it."

The town had literally dropped two little hedgehog kids on his doorstep a month ago. He'd opened the door to find them wide eyed, hungry, and alone, with a short, hasty note pinned to the little one's shirt- "Here you go, Silver, these kids have no parents. We can't feed them anymore. But we're pretty sure they're related to you because they have some pretty weird abilities. Good luck." And Silver, being Silver, took them in, despite the fact that he was technically a teenager himself.

They were like little sisters to him, and they treated him like a big brother. After years of being alone, it was nice to have a family again. He'd grown to love them. Blaze had called him naive- that was her favorite word to use with him. Naive. _"Oh Silver..."_ she had sighed. _"How can you raise two kids in a world like this? With all of your responsibilities?"_

Sometimes, he wondered if she was right.

Shale glanced up at him and grinned, showing sharp little teeth. "Are you thinking about us?" she asked. Silver smiled tiredly and rubbed her ear, making her giggle. "Yup. I am."

"I knew it! I'm getting better!"

"Mm-hm." Another reason he'd decided to take them in was that they had abilities, just like him. Instead of psychokinesis, Shale possesed telepathy, and her sister could create illusions. It made living with them...interesting. He'd had to perfect locking up his thoughts, especially when Blaze was around... some of the things that ran through his mind were NOT fit for a ten year old.

But he knew how difficult trying to control things like that was, because he'd done it alone. He didn't want them to have to.

Silver and Shale walked to their room the end of the hallway in silence. Her grip on his hand tightened when they reached it, and Silver returned her nervous squeeze. He knew how hard this was for her. The blankets piled by the door glowed blue and green, matching the haze surrounding Silver's hand. He moved them away with his mind and twisted the door knob, opening it.

Citrine, the youngest, lay in a pallet of covers in the middle of the floor. Her eyes were closed, and she shivered despite the sheets. Her amber colored quills were matted and sweaty. The sour smell of sickness permeated the whole room.

Silver swallowed and kneeled next to the tiny hedgehog, forcing himself to smile, even though the sight of her frail body made him want to weep. "Hi, Citrine."

"H-h-h-hi..."

"Shale told me you weren't feeling good."

"'M-m-m-m f-f-f-ine."

Silver brushed her damp forelock away from her veined blue eyes. "You threw up again."

"S-s-s-s-sorry..."

"I'm going to clean you up now, okay?"

"K-k-k-k-ay."

"Shale?"

"I'm on it, Silvie." Shale piped, having already plucked the thought from his brain. She scurried out of the room, then returned holding a bowl of water and a rag. Silver gritted his teeth and started gently washing bloody vomit out of Citrine's fur. Even though he barely touched her, his fingers left bruises that spread and darkened rapidly. She flinched and whimpered, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Violet Fever, caused by the toxic fumes Iblis gave off as it burned their city. It caused tremors, blood poisoning, headaches, and internal hemorrhaging. There was no cure. And Citrine had come down with it. His maybe-little sister, only six years old, was dying a horrible death.

All because of Solaris, and Iblis, and whatever had triggered the apocalypse. If that hadn't happened so many years ago, Silver wouldn't be watching her deteriorate before his eyes.

Shale cradled Citrine's head as he worked, wiping tears from her face and whispering to her. "Once upon a time, there was a Princess named Citrine..."

"A-a-a-a-and one n-n-n-named S-s-s-shale..."

"Alright, and a Prince named Silver, who was in love with a Queen named Blaze-"

"Hey!" Silver said teasingly, giving the black hedgekid a nudge. "I am not."

"I said PRINCE Silver." Shale said, sticking out her tounge. "You are not a Prince. Now hush, you're ruining the story."

"Yes, ma'am."

Citrine managed a shaky, breathy laugh before she began to cough, and red spots dotted the white fluff on her chest.

Silver's eyes hardened as he cleaned the puke from Citrine's fur. '_Someday_,' he vowed, '_I will find out why this happened. I will reverse this. Whoever's fault this is...they will pay.'_

_'I swear on my life...I will destroy the Iblis trigger. Somehow...'_


	2. Chapter 2

_The Iblis had rejected him. Silver didn't know why- something in his soul, and in his heart, had caused the deity to reject his form as a vessel for it's confinement. _

_And that left only one person who could._

_"My soul is alight with flames...I will be accepted. Use your Chaos control, and seal us away."_

_"Stop Blaze, No! I'll take it! I can seal the Iblis Spirit! It doesn't have to be this way!"_

_"Oh Silver...still so naive...but...that's what I like best...about you..."_

_The raging spirit would not be contained for long. Already it was breaking free, pulsating like a boiling Sun against Silver's psychic bonds, bathing them both in waves of searing, furious heat. _

_Blaze looked tiny in comparison, facing down the burning entity. Her face was brave, and resigned, but Silver could see how her body trembled, and the tears that clung to her whiskers. The Chaos emeralds gleamed in her hands, lancing waves of energy into her chest._

_He lunged forward in vain, trying to pull her back, but another burst of fire from Iblis had him scrambling back, shielding his face from the glare and patting down his steaming fur, moisture streaming from his eyes._

_"Silver, stop. I'm the only one...it has to be me."_

_"No! You can't leave me! I won't let you!"_

_"Go back to your sisters, Silver. Take care of them." She was disintegrating as he watched, turning transparent and ethereal. _

_She turned to face the burning spirit, and as he watched, helpless, it grew larger until it began to devour her, swallowing her form in a wash of lava and fire._

"_BLAZE!"_

_He had no choice. He had to do it, or everything was lost. Time froze- power flared-_

_And she was gone._

_He stood there on that ledge minutes after, even as the fire faded from the sky, and the world began to twist itself around him, the very fabric of his reality untangling, melting, and reforming._

_Darkness descended, and Silver the Hedgehog knew no more._

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"SILVIEEEE!"

Silver was awake in an instant, jolting out of his sleep with sweat matted quills and a pounding heartbeat. He recognized the shout as Shale's. His sleep bogged brain immediately figured that they were being attacked, or Citrine's condition had worsened during the night.

He leapt to his feet- and wound up face first on the floor. Something had entangled his boots, and as he kicked his way free of it, he found his legs ensnared in white sheets.

"W-what...what-?"

_'I don't have...a bed...'_ But there it was, right in front of him, a huge four poster. Where was his ragged chair?

"SILVIEEEE!"

The screams were getting louder. Silver put the confusing thoughts out of his mind and raced out of his room, down the hall, leaping over cracks and holes in the floor that weren't there and paying no mind to the random pictures hanging on the wall that certainly hadn't been there the day before.

He burst into the girls room, and screeched to a stop. Instead of grey, bare walls and a stained, damp pallet, the room was painted a pretty yellow shade, and occupied by a gigantic bunk bed, littered with toys and stuffed animals.

"What in the HELL-"

"SILVER! SILVER!"

He shook his head and instead bounded downstairs, taking them four at a time and nearly breaking his neck as he landed in the living room and slid on a random rug, faceplanting spectacularly. He jumped up in a combat ready stance, eyes and fists glowing aquamarine, glaring around for a threat. He fully expected to see Lava demons tearing apart their home, or Citrine laying in a puddle of blood-

And instead found himself facing a gigantic, glittering Christmas tree, strung with red, green, and gold lights.

"WHAT-"

"SILVER!"

Silver was bowled backwards by a small, fuzzy bundle of soot grey fur and curly black quills as Shale leapt into his arms, laughing wildly. "Merry Christmas, lazy bum! You're finally awake!"

Silver blinked and peeled her away, noticing that her worn, patched clothes were replaced by soft pajamas. "H-huh?! C-Christmas? W-what-" His head was spinning, his skull was throbbing, and confusion was the name of his life.

"Y-Y-You w-woke h-h-him up!" came and indignant little squeak from somewhere near his knees. Silver looked down, and saw Citrine, rubbing her little face and smiling. Her appearance stunned him more than anything else. Instead of dull and patchy, her fur was shining and sleek, and her eyes were clear and blue, with no trace of bloodshot. Her limbs didn't shake, and the ever present crust of dried blood around her nose was absent.

Silver took a deep breath in through his nose, and almost passed out as her scent registered on him. Healthy, with no trace of the sour stench of Violet Fever. Citrine was healed.

His golden eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and he kneeled down to pick her up, shuddering in awed relief. Could it be true? "Citrine," he gasped, squeezing the living daylights out of her and ignoring her protests. "C-Citrine, you're alright, you're... Oh my God..."

"Ow! Ow! l-lemme g-go, S-Silvie!"

"WHAT is all the noise in here? Silver?"

Silver released Citrine and turned to stare at the woman walking into the living room, a female hedgehog with warm brown fur and a swollen, pregnant belly. Citrine squealed and darted for her, and the woman picked her up and nuzzled her cheek. "Merry Christmas, little gem."

Shale stepped forward. "Mommy, Silver woke up! Can we open the gifts now?"

"M-Mommy...?"

Gaping, open mouthed, Silver finally glanced around at his surroundings. Their house was no longer falling apart. Lamps lit the space with a soft warm glow. Family portraits and childish drawings hung on the walls. There was furniture, and the smell of something buttery and delicious baking.

The woman sat Citrine down and moved towards Silver, who was too shocked to move away. She gripped his muzzle in soft hands, and gazed into his face with a caring, concerned look in her amber eyes. "Are you alright, Honey? Do you feel sick? Was it the nightmares again?"

"No...w-who..."

"Orea? What's happening out there?" Another head poked itself out of the kitchen- this time a male with coal colored fur like Shale. He grinned when he saw Silver. "Ah, there you are! You sleep like the dead, Silver. Trinie and Shale were blowing fuses waiting for you."

"I...I...I..." What was this? He had no family, no home like this. What was going on?

"Are you okay, son?"

Son? Son...

Silver turned to the window, trying to find the familiar hellish glow of Iblis on the city horizon. Past his own reflection, he saw only the sparkle of Christmas bulbs and twinkling lights of proud skyscrapers reflected off of newly fallen snow, and hear the yells and shrieks of little kids throwing snowballs in their yards.

"Silver?"

He turned back to them- to his family- and smiled, beaming so wide his cheeks ached. Family. Future. He'd done it.

They had done it.

"Yes," Silver laughed, feeling tears prick the backs of his eyeballs. "I'm fine. I'm _wonderful!"_

"Well, then, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas...Dad."


End file.
